Delegates seeking the world’s first deal to curb plastic pollution began openly advocating for an extension of talks on Sunday, accusing a handful of nations of obstructing an ambitious agreement.
Nearly 200 nations are in South Korea’s Busan for negotiations that are supposed to result in a landmark accord after two years of discussions.
But a week of talks has failed to resolve deep divisions between “high-ambition” countries seeking a globally binding agreement to limit production and phase out harmful chemicals, and “like-minded” nations who want to focus on waste.
A new draft text, released Sunday afternoon after multiple delays, still includes a wide range of options, making clear the ongoing level of disagreement.
German delegate Sebastian Unger told AFP he was “disappointed about lack of progress.”
The “text should be preserved to continue negotiations and bring (the) process forward at (a) future meeting.”
The prospect of an “INC 5.2” meeting to follow the INC5 talks in Busan was also raised by Senegal’s Cheikh Sylla.
“If you ask me… we stop, we adapt the paper as it is and we try to do another session,” he told AFP.
That would offer time “to bring the positions closer together, and at this session 5.2, we can reach an agreement that is balanced”.
The calls reflect a sense that there is simply too little time left to overcome the opposition from mainly oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, who have repeatedly refused to comment when approached by AFP.
